These are a few of my faaaaavorite things... Part 3

Okay so today I am going to feature some of my favorite items that I have either bought or traded for on Etsy... almost all of them have been re-listed, so if you like any of them you can purchase them as well! Enjoy!!! :D


Kyle the Raccoon Wool Felt Applique Plush Doll Pillow by Cuore


Large Knit Project Tote with Pockets


The Lonely Tiger - Handcarved Stamp


Sweetheart Apron in Pink Marilyn by prettylittlepearl

Bijou Print


White Knitter's Brooch - Yarn and Needles


1AEON Natural tote with 3 blue Owls (I got mine with black owls)

Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair

Hi all!

I just got back a little while ago from vending at the first annual Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair held at the Hallockville Museum Farm in Riverhead, NY! In addition to having fiber artists sell their wares, there were also many demonstrations and workshops, including sheep herding, sheep and alpaca shearing, carding, dyeing, spinning, felting, knitting, and weaving! There were also angora rabbits, sheep and lambs, and llamas and alpacas that you could pet. Below are some pictures I took throughout the day of some of the beautiful work I saw as well as some of the lovely creatures without whom none of these fiber arts would be possible! Enjoy!


My table


My favorite item of the day, a lovely felted handbag from the Hallockville Knitters




Beautiful table decor and pin cushion from Mojo's Place


Gorgeous hand-dyed and hand-spun yarns from Hampton Artistic Yarns


Brilliant hand-dyed rovings from Color Craze Fiber


Beautiful hand-spun yarns from Temptress Yarn


Me meeting my first darling llama!!!


Amazing art from award-winning needle felter Irene Heckel


Freshly sheared llamas and alpacas


Me petting some baby Romney sheep! "Baaaah!!!"


Mommy angora bunny and baby angora bunnies (2.5 weeks old!) :)


Another angora bunny -- I challenge you to find its face!! (Hint: only the nose and mouth are visible)


Adorable retractable tape measures I bought from Mojo's Place


"Weave-it" miniature handmade loom I bought from Bumblebee Primitives


Finished woven square!

It was great meeting everyone and I look forward to seeing some of you again at the next fair!

These are a few of my faaaaavorite things... Part 1

Hi all and Happy Holidays!!!

Having trouble finding just the right gift? I thought I would put together some little gift guides of some of my favorite things for you all to see! All items can be found on Etsy; just click on the title below each image and you will be brought right to that item's page. Every couple of days I will be posting more. Happy shopping!


Red Poppy Felted Necklace scarf Jewel Merino Felt


Platypus - OOAK


Citrine Druzy Cluster Necklace -- Golden version


flurry-beaded dangle earrings


8x8 Inspirational Nature - square photoprint

My First Craft Fair!!!

I just had my first craft fair this past Sunday, October 25th, 2009. I was a nervous wreck the week leading up to it, missing a couple nights of sleep and agonizing over countless details. I thought my nervousness would dissipate once I was there for a while, but in fact it did not... lol. It was a great experience, however, and I look forward to doing it again! I walked away with a nice profit as well as the contact info of some very nice local crafters that I met. The items of mine that did best were my needle felted items (sold some appliques, my ladybug, and my spooky cat mini-play-set) and my earrings. I also sold my first bracelet, a ring, some fabric-covered buttons, and some hair clips.

Some of the wonderful people I met included my "neighbor" Cathy Nichols of cathynichols.etsy.com. She does beautiful paintings including painting with wax! My other "neighbor" was Lisa Dalton of lmdalton.etsy.com. She makes adorable sewed kitty cats called "Travel Kitties" -- you can take photos of your Travel Kitty and write up stories and send them in to her to be published on her site! Fun! I also met a woman who knits with size FIFTY knitting needles -- she uses up to 10 strands of yarn at a time! Her husband makes the wooden needles and they sell them at a shop in Huntington, NY called "Knitting on the Lamb".

The craft show occurred alongside a screening of the movie "Handmade Nation", followed up by a Q&A session with producer and director Faythe Levine. The movie explores how young people have taken up crafting and the various reasons they do it, from helping the environment to fighting the take-over of the corporate world. As a vendor I got to see it for free!

All in all it was a very successful day, and I am so glad that I was invited to be a part of it. A great big thank you goes out to the show's organizer, Gabi Moisan of Sought.etsy.com!


Me at my table

Table shot #1


Table shot #2

Faythe Levine and Cathy Nichols

Lisa Dalton and one of her Travel Kitties


Size 50 knitting needles!!!


The room

"Fashioning Felt" Exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

So I went to the felt exhibit on Sunday, and it was pretty cool. Don't know that I would bother traveling very far to see it, though... there's not all that much there. I also was not allowed to take pictures (I snuck in a couple anyway, though, until I realized I was on camera and they could see me with my camera...):

felted costume jewelry

entrance to the "yurt"

Anyway, you can see the pictures of everything there online:
http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Fashioning-Felt/

Or buy the book with all of the photos and TONS more info than is offered online OR at the exhibit here:
http://www.cooperhewittshop.org/?path=item&topid=1&itemid=453

AND, they mentioned nothing about needle felting!!! :(

Oh well... you win some, you lose some. Luckily, we also had a visit to the Met planned, where -- interestingly enough, you ARE allowed to take pictures:







And then on a walk through Central Park on our way to get dinner, we saw at least 12 American Robins, a surefire sign of spring!!! :D




All in all, a very nice day!!! :)

Mah First Blog... well, not really

But this is my first blog on here, and I intend on taking this blog a bit more seriously than the other one I have. My mission here is to document my progress (or lack thereof) through the world of handmade arts & crafts. I am in the process of making items that I have made for a long time for my etsy shop -- www.notsoshabbychic.etsy.com -- , but I am also in the more interesting process of learning some new crafts (needle felting) and re-learning some old ones (knitting). I wanted someplace to post notes and photos as to my progress so that I can [hopefully] see that with time and practice that I am improving.

I am also an avid birdwatcher, gardener, and lover of all things nature, so I also wanted someplace in which I could share with the world (or just the one or two of you who will be following this) what it is that fills me with joy and what inspires me. :)